Night vision gogles (NVG) are well known for their ability to enhance nighttime vision. The goggles employ intensifier devices which operate to multiply the incident light received to produce a display that is bright enough for presentation to the eyes of a viewer. As is known, the U.S. Military uses night vision goggles during nighttime operation to sight objects that otherwise would not be visible. Night vision goggles (NVG) have, because of the expense, been primary limited to military applications. Because of military specifications and designs, available night vision goggles are not suited for use in a consumer market place. A majority of night vision goggle users are assigned individual equipment and thus do not have to adjust the equipment to fit their psycho-physiological characteristics. A goggle for consumer use would have to allow for easy adjustment for multiple users in the dark environment that it is used in. Such a consumer device, as one can understand, should have various capabilities while not confusing the consumer and make it extremely easy for the consumer to handle and operate. Such a consumer device would have wide application in regard to nighttime marine piloting, nighttime security and surveillance, nighttime hunting, fishing, hiking and navigation, backpacking, search and rescue, underwater vision, nighttime recreation and nighttime law enforcement. The nighttime vision goggle, as indicated employs night vision technology which has been used by the military and one objective of the present invention is to provide an efficient and adaptable consumer device. As one can ascertain, ITT Corporation, the assignee herein has many patents, and has provided many devices for use in military nighttime vision applications. See for example U.S. Pat. No. 5,121,045 issued on Jun. 9, 1992 to J. N. Caserta, et al., entitled EMI PROOF BATTERY PACK FOR NIGHT VISION GOGGLES. See U.S. Pat. No. 5,084,780 issued on Jan. 28, 1992 to E. N. Phillips entitled TELESCOPIC SIGHT FOR DAY/NIGHT VIEWING. That patent describes a sight for a gun or other weapon which can be utilized for nighttime or daytime operation and which is particularly adaptable for use with weapons ranging from rifles to antitank weapons. See also U.S. Pat. No. 5,029,963 entitled REPLACEMENT DEVICE FOR A DRIVERS VIEWER by C. Naselli, et al., issued on Jul. 9, 1991. This patent describes image intensifier tubes which are utilized in night vision devices and which employ image intensifiers which are manufactured by ITT and which are designated as Generation III or GEN III devices. In the patent it is explained that a significant portion of the military and certain commercial night vision equipment currently in use were designated and designed to accommodate such image intensifier devices from the GEN 0 to the GEN III device.
As one can understand, a consumer night vision goggle (CNVG) should allow ease of use for the user. The device to be described may employ auto-focus and a power-focus mechanism to enable the user to control the focus by means of convenient switches. For example, in the auto-focus mode, the focus may be achieved by a control signal from a auto-focus transducer. The control signal may be fed into a control circuit that is used to drive a motor. The power drive is used to electronically focus the objective lens independently from auto-focus. Gain of the image tube is brought out to the user to allow for manual control of the device gain. Automatic gain control is accommodated employing circuitry in a high voltage supply. A major aspect of the present invention is the control of the interpupillary and the diopter focus adjustment which are employed with a manual control located on the housing, in the proximity of each of the eye pieces. Diopter adjustment and interpupillary control is achieved for each eye of a user and independent of one another. The control employs a single switch for both interpupillary and diopter adjustment to greatly simplify user interface. The diopter adjustment is controlled by utilizing a spring washer that is employed to enable a friction fit for operation of each of the mechanisms. In this manner, the consumer can adjust both the diopter focus and interpupillary distance by moving a single control knob. This adjustment can be made independently for both the right and the left eye of the consumer. In this manner, focus as well as interpupillary distance is achieved for each eye.
As one can ascertain from the above, night vision goggles (NVG) have been used extensively by the military and have had application in law enforcement and security. Such devices are sold as monocular devices which are fabricated by numerous companies or binocular devices or goggles. In any event, as alluded to above, such devices are expensive and over specified for commercial use. The control of such devices such as focusing and interpupillary adjustment is relatively difficult at night and prior art adjustment mechanisms are difficult to use, while assembly time is consuming and difficult.
In any event, there is described an improved consumer night vision viewing apparatus which avoids all of the above problems and which is extremely simple and inexpensive to both produce and fabricate.